(04-17) 12:43 PDT SAN MATEO -- A stretch of El Camino Real in San Mateo was closed to traffic for about three hours Wednesday because of a natural-gas leak, authorities said.

A construction crew digging near El Camino and Third Avenue hit a 2-inch steel gas-distribution line around 8:30 a.m., said Joe Molica, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The crew was not with PG&E and was working on a Caltrans project, he said.

The gas leak prompted an evacuation of two nearby buildings, a Union Bank and a Bank of America. El Camino was closed at Third Avenue while PG&E crews worked to stop the leak, officials said.

The leak was capped just before 11 a.m., and the evacuation orders were lifted, Molica said. El Camino between Third and Fifth remains partially blocked to traffic while crews finish the cleanup.